West Liberty University Athletics

West Liberty Men Are MEC Tourney Champs

Men's Tennis | 4/24/2016 5:54:00 PM

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Liberty University men's tennis team breezed to its second straight Mountain East Conference Tournament title here Sunday, handing West Virginia Wesleyan a 5-2 loss in the championship final at Schoenbaum Tennis Complex.
Coach Sam McCullough's Hilltoppers (17-5) took control of Sunday's title tilt by gutting out hotly-contested wins against the Bobcats (19-5) in all three doubles matches.
Baptiste Perrin and Santiago Gutierrez got things started for WLU with an 8-6 victory at No. 1 doubles before Andy Ponder and Matt Tully pulled out a 9-7 nailbiter at No. 2 doubles.
The turning point of the afternoon may have come at No. 3 doubles where the Black and Gold's Martin Moncayo and Pablo Cimorra prevailed in a tiebreaker after battling Wesleyan's Jacobo Rendon and Andre Fernandes to an 8-8 deadlock.
That gave the Hilltoppers what proved to be an insurmountable 3-0 lead heading into singles play.
Gutierrez picked up a quick point for West Liberty with a 6-0 6-4 romp past Rendon at No. 2 singles but Wesleyan was able to keep its fading hopes alive with wins at No. 3 and No. 6 singles.
Perrin and Sabate split the first two sets of their No. 1 singles match but Perrin came up with a key service break in the third set and went on to a 6-4 win, closing out the match and clinching the Hilltoppers' second straight MEC Tournament crown.
As the MEC Tournament champion, West Liberty receives the league's automatic bid to next month's NCAA Division II Atlantic Region championship tournament. Wesleyan is also expected to receive an at-large bid.
The NCAA Division II regional tournament pairings and host sites will be announced on May 3.

MEN'S TENNIS
MEC Tournament
Championship
West Liberty 5, W.Va. Wesleyan 2
Doubles
1. Perrin/Gutierrez (WLU) d. Berga/Sabate, 8-6
2. Ponder/Tully (WLU) d. Rodriguez/Nassar, 9-7
3. Cimorra/Moncayo (WLU) d. Rendon/Fernandez, 9-8 (4)
Singles
1. Baptiste Perrin (WLU) d. Nathan Sabate, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
2. Santiago Gutierrez (WLU) d. Jacobo Rendon, 6-0, 6-4
3. Ferran Berga (WVW) d. Martin Moncayo, 6-3, 6-2
6. Pedro Nassar (WVW) d. Luke Flanagan, 6-1, 6-2

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Players Mentioned

Pablo Cimorra: 5' 10"; Junior

Luke Flanagan: 6' 1"; Sophomore

Santiago Gutierrez: 6' 1"; Junior

Martin Moncayo: 5' 8"; Senior

Baptiste Perrin: 6' 3"; Junior

Matt Tully: 6' 0"; Junior

Players Mentioned

Pablo Cimorra
: 5' 10"; Junior

Luke Flanagan
: 6' 1"; Sophomore

Santiago Gutierrez
: 6' 1"; Junior

Martin Moncayo
: 5' 8"; Senior

Baptiste Perrin
: 6' 3"; Junior

Matt Tully
: 6' 0"; Junior